Brake fluid?!

Hi all,

Thank you so much for your advice! It's obvious when you mention it, the range of rubber and synthetic components in a hydraulic system make it similar to airbrush engineering in that sense.

Okay, brake fluid it is! I've done a fair bit lately and been concerned that my AB performance is degrading somewhat, though I do a standard dismantle/clean after each session. I had some pulsed-spray a few days ago but the recent thread on that subject pointed me at a loose head assembly, which was a far easier fix than replacing the air valve gasket, which the troubleshooting section in the VL kit suggested.

I have quite a dusty environment, it's hard to keep flecks and spots out of the paint, and with our temperature and humidity varying so much (we're in a drought down here) it's near-impossible to find a mixing ratio that allows paint to flow on smoothly, which is very frustrating...

Thanks for the advice, now I know how to clean this sucker (blower?!) within an inch of its life!

TB379

Plastic master cylinder fluid wells, rubber O-rings, pistons, seals, and boots in brake calipers and cylinders; so no harm done to seals used in AB's. I have always easily washed brake fluid off my hands with plain old soap and water.

Brake fluid is not oil. It is based on glycols and is water soluble like alcohol. Astek's Concentrated Airbrush Cleaner is Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether which is also used in brake/hydrolic fluids. It will soften enamel and arcylic paint but does not affect plastics and so makes an execellent paint stipper. 

Since teflon and rubber are used as gasket material in braking systems, I wouldn't be concerned about them being harmed in your AB. As for cleaning, soap and water will work, and so with thinners, isopropyl alcohol, Windex, and other "normal" airbrush cleaners.

I completely dissasemble the entire ab. I have dual action ones and remove the air valve so there's no chance of it getting damaged. Some ab's you can't do that too, but I have not heard of it damaging them. After the "soak", rinse it out in warm soapy water real well and dry every part inside and out. The teflon bearings and seals on my badger ab's have never been affected. In fact, I'm doing this to one later today. I do it once a year or so. But i paint lots, so most folk don't need to do this very often. If you are not having any problems of poor performance with your ab, then chances are you don't need to do this. Although we do it and recomend it, it's something you should do least amount possible.